Alum Pot   4th. August '74

Party:- A. Fletcher, D. Hodgson, Dick, Paul (his son) Mick, K. Lewis

On arrival at the farm we found that the club ‘ferrets’ were going to descend Pippikin. When Hodge suggested doing Alum instead we readily agreed to the opportunity of doing a hole of human size. Hodge led Dick, his son Paul and a friend Mick down the lower Long Churn route from which they had a grandstand view of Alex and I abseiling the big pitch. We descended on the doubled 500’ rope which, when belayed to the tree near the wall proved to be about 3’ short of the bottom. When Alex arrived there he found that he was swinging around above the bloated corpse of a fallen cow. This of course produced much cursing from the intrepid explorer and provided everyone else with a pleasant diversion. When I descended I found the first 100’ alright but after that started spinning like a top which made it rather awkward to miss the cow. However, I blessed the stretch in nylon rope, which, with my weight, reached the bottom.

We had a long wait for the others during which Alex laddered the final pitch and met a member of B.A.C. Caving Club who had badly cut his leg on the last pitch of Diccan Pot. He was washing it in the water coming from Alum. “I wouldn't do that if I was you” said Alex. “Why not?”, “There's a dead cow up there" We suggested he left the hole the easy way on our tackle and he gratefully accepted.

Hodge on his arrival at the bottom of the 60’ pitch, refused to descend the cascade, saying that he didn't went to get wet, but I think it was the cow that did it. He also warned us not to puncture it or the methane with which it was filled would ignite from his carbide lamp
The trip out was smooth and uneventful except for the presence of patches of blood on the pitches from the injured man and the white fish that Alex and I saw in Plank Pool. This remark pleased Herbert on our return to the farm as he has seen one there and no one had believed him.

Keith Lewis.

 

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